


Relapse

by iloveitblue



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-02-27 14:37:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2696591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Clint relapses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm doing a giveaway over on [tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/giveaway) for Christmas. It's only until Dec 13, if anyone was interested.

At first, the Avengers didn’t believe the news. 

Of course they didn’t. One of their own saw it with his own eyes and although Thor didn’t see Coulson’s last breath, he saw the damage inflicted by his brother and no mortal - no Asgardian, even - could have survived it.

But here was Fury; telling them all that Phil was recovering. Slower than he expected, but recovering. No one was happier than Phil’s husband about the news.

—-

The first time it happened, Clint was just watching the feed to Coulson’s room in the SHIELD med bay. He was too weak to accept visitors but Fury had promised that Clint would be the first person Phil talked to when he opened his eyes. 

Clint blinked at the screen that showed that his husband was alive and breathing. He watched the monitor beat a steady rhythm ensuring him that Phil was going to be okay. 

That’s when Clint saw the flash of blue. 

It was quick, more like a millisecond than anything. He looked around the room to find that nothing was out of the ordinary, that the rest of the team were still in the kitchen, happily making dinner. Phil would be so proud that they’d come a long way since the battle. 

He decided to ignore the light because it might just have been his mind playing tricks on him. He must have been too tired - what with the avenging and the training and the paperwork and the whatnot.

But as the days passed, Clint has been seeing the blue light more and more. He frowned whenever he did, because the light seemed to either go slower, giving him more time to it.

Nowadays, it was up to ten seconds.

Another thing was that Clint for some reason is the only one who can see it.

He’d asked Stark to quit with the weird strobe thingie but Stark informed him that the last time he used strobes inside his house was that time in Malibu with Rhodey and the armors and the birth of War Machine and the- yeesh… Bottom line, there were no strobes in the tower.

—-

It took a month before Phil was well enough to talk to them all one by one. 

True to his word, Fury had let Clint inside the room first, alone. Familial priority and whatnot.

Clint didn’t get a chance to say a word to Phil because as soon as Clint saw Phil - his blue eyes, his battered body, the bandages covering his scarred chest -  the blue light was back. And this time it stayed for a long time. 

Long enough for Loki to greet him hello with a wicked,  _wicked_  grin.

They were in an endless white space. Loki paced around him, “Hello again, Agent Barton.” 

Clint felt uneasy without his bow and arrow in his hands. If he’d known he’d be facing Loki, he’d have brought his special arrows. The one he carved himself. But as of now, he guessed his knife was going to have to do.

Without another word, he lurched forward to attack only for Loki to disappear in thin air and reappear again behind him.

"Is that how you greet an old friend?" Loki taunted. Clint sneered at him. 

"What do you want, Loki?"

"I want to be king. What about you?"

"I want you  _dead_.”

Loki smirked. “So ambitious. Must be nice to be  _so_  naive.” Loki shook his head softly and went back to pacing.

"What are you talking about?"

Loki lit up at the question. “A loyal servant cannot kill their master.”

"I am  _not_  your servant.” Clint said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, but you are. As long as the essence of the tesseract is near, you are under my control" Loki stepped behind him, leaning close as if to whisper a secret. "and I highly doubt you’d hurt the only essence of the stone left on Midgard now."

Loki huffed a laugh before the endless white edged by the blue of the tesseract was gone. 

Phil stared at him a few moments more. “Clint? Is something wrong?”

Clint’s eyes tracked Phil, mapped every part of him until his eyes zoned in on his chest. The Helicarrier, Loki, the scepter.

The Tesseract’s last remaining essence on earth. 

It was inside Phil.

And the more he was around or the nearer he was to Phil, the more control Loki had over him. Suddenly, the room felt too stuffy Clint had to turn on his heel and leave. 

—-

As soon as they were all informed, they all set out to find a cure for it. To get the essence out of Phil somehow. To get Clint free from Loki. Thor had gone back to Asgard, Steve and Tony had gone to see a new guy by the name of Doctor Strange, Bruce had gone to study the waves emitted by the tesseract and possible ways to extract it. Natasha had gone through all of her contacts seeing if they had something. Anything that would help the two.

Until then, they sent notes.

It was very High School and so tooth-rottingly sweet, Natasha couldn’t help but smile every time she saw either men smile at the other’s note. 

—-

It had been months and Phil had been cleared for duty. 

But seeing as how the current situation made it impossible for him to resume his job as the Avengers’ liaison, he was given a chance to create his own team, not including Strike Team Delta, obviously. He was even given the Bus.

Clint and Phil had accepted that it might take a little bit more time to find a way to extract the essence so for now, Phil went with his team, and Clint went with his.

They still talk on the phone, almost every night actually - apparently, the mind control thing only happened when Clint  _saw_  the blue light. It was all still very High School, but it was good. Great, even.

Something like a long distance relationship.

Their conversations filled with stories about their teams, sweet nothings, endearing good nights, and sincere ‘ _I miss you’_ s. 


	2. Chapter 2

In the end, it was Loki who had the answer.

He grinned maliciously when Thor presented himself. “Brother. What a… wonderful surprise.” The pause did not escape Thor.

“I assume you are aware of what has happened?” Thor asked him, straight to the point and in no mood to deal with Loki.

“Aware of it?” Loki snorted, “My dear brother, I planted it.” He said with such poison that Thor had to resist frowning at the word ‘brother’.

Thor nodded. “Then you will remove the essence at once.”

Loki tutted him, wagging a finger in front of his face. “Now why would I do that?”

Thor raised his hammer as his eyebrows drew nearer to each other. “You will do as I say, Loki.”

Loki rolled his eyes and walked around his cell, “Is violence your answer to everything?” He asked Thor.

Thor tensed, before he looked away. He lowered Mjolnir and glared at his brother. “What is it you want?”

Loki shrugged. “The same thing I’ve always wanted. My birth right. To. Be. King.”

Thor shook his head. “Father will not allow it. You have more than proven yourself to be unworthy of-”

“Then change his mind!” Loki demanded. “I do not need to think for you, Thor. Those days are over. You want me to do something for you, do something for me first.”

Thor left him then, and Loki did not stop him. He was too confident that the Avengers could not defeat him this time. And he was right. The Avengers could not remove the essence of the tesseract from Phil on their own. Which was why they had to seek the help of the others.

—

“This is Doctor Stephen Strange.” Steve introduced the man to Clint. The man nodded at Clint in greeting and so did Clint. “And I think he can help you.” Steve beamed proudly while Tony was muttering something about magic.

He stepped toward Clint and he smiled politely. “Your friends have told me about your situation and I am saddened to tell you that I cannot do anything to remove the essence from your husband.” His smile dimmed a little, and honestly so did Clint’s. “But I can do something about you.”

Clint looked over to Steve for confirmation who just nodded. “Me?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Think of it this way. The link between you and Loki lies within the essence that is embeded within your husband. Now, the logical thing to do to break the link is to remove the essence.”

Clint waved his hand in a circular motion because he already knows this part. “But we can’t do that without putting your husband’s life in danger. So the best we can do is prevent you from receiving the link.”

“And how do we do that?” Clint asked.

“Simple. Your friend, Dr. Banner, has been since studying the waves that have come from both the tesseract itself and from Mr. Coulson. We can pinpoint the exact energy signature that links your brain to Loki. With that information within our reach, we can block your brain from reading that energy signature completely. Meaning, Loki can try, but he won’t have you in his grasp any longer.” Doctor Strange looked pleased with himself.

“How long does it last?” Clint asked, not willing to let any of the tinier details escape him.

“What do you mean?” The Doctor frowns.

“Well, if I’m understanding you correctly, what you plan to do is to put a barrier in the link. I’m asking how long until that barrier breaks and Loki has free reign to run around my head again.”

Doctor Strange keeps quiet for a few moments, before he nods in understanding. “I see your concern. But not to worry. As long as Loki stays within his cell and is as guarded as Thor tells me, then the barrier won’t break.”

“It’s better than what you’ve got going on here, Clint. You know it is.” Natasha tells him.

Clint nods. “Let’s do it.”

—

The next time Clint opens his eyes, its to see Phil. and not a single speck of blue other than Phil’s eyes.

“Good Morning.” Phil kissed his forehead and Clint grinned at the touch he’s missed so much.

“Good Morning.” Clint greeted back.

The barrier was not a permanent solution, they all knew that. The threat of Loki was still around the corner. But for now, they could spare a few nights with each other without worrying and that was more than enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/116030857301/sometimes-i-just-hate-my-internet-provider-this)

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/104000762511/i-was-strangely-productive-today-and-its-sunday)


End file.
